After this incident of the wounding and the rescue of Stephen by the
intrepid Miss Hope, whose interest in him was already strong enough to
induce her to risk her life upon his behalf, all we fugitives were
dragged ashore somehow by our friends. Here, Hans, I and the ladies
collapsed exhausted, though Brother John still found sufficient
strength to do what he could for the injured Stephen and Mavovo.
Then the Battle of the Reeds began, and a fierce fray it was. The
Pongos who were about equal in numbers to our people, came on
furiously, for they were mad at the death of their god with his
priest, the Motombo, of which I think news had reached them and at the
carrying off of the Mother of the Flower. Springing from their canoes
because the waterway was too narrow for more than one of these to
travel at a time, they plunged into the reeds with the intention of
wading ashore. Here their hereditary enemies, the Mazitu, attacked
them under the command of old Babemba. The struggle that ensued
partook more of the nature of a series of hand-to-hand fights than of
a set battle.
Pages:
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534